crazyal
Super Member
I have all three and one thing you will not be able to do without a grapple is brush clearing and hauling effectively.
Efficiently as a grapple, probably not. But with a bucket to push the brush into a pile to grab it. I've cleared brush with everything from an old 3 wheel ATV and a chain after piling it up by hand to using my backhoe bucket to pinch it against the dipper stick. If I had a thumb on it I doubt I would have much of a use for a grapple on my compact. If the space between the thumb and the bucket was adjustable I could only imagine the size of rocks I could lift.
I've found that until I win the Power Ball I have to make compromises. I have a set of clamp on forks (a compromise that has the extreme penalty of moving the weight far in front of the pivot pins) that I use often. A better compromise would be a set of quick attach forks that could also be used as a grapple. If the space between the forks turned out to be too much of an issue something could be made to slip onto the forks that simulated the lower portion of a grapple down the road.